Soldier On
by xXHereWeGoAgainXx
Summary: Four of Alex's classmates are lead into his world when Mr. Blunt offers them a job. They're arrogant, overconfident and worst of all... they think they're too young to die.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Yes, I secretly wrote the Alex Rider series... In my dreams.

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Soldier On

Chapter One

Alan Blunt had a problem. Actually it would be right to say that that statement was false or miss leading for Alan Blunt had many problems. The most obvious being, how to get five fully grown men into a secondary school without arousing suspicion? Unless those fully grown men weren't exactly fully grown. Would it be more obvious to suggest that five teenagers would be appropriate as a solution. Only one boy that fit the discription came to mind straight away: Alex Rider, that left four. Who would he get and where would he get them? Perhaps classmates would work. Two weeks with SAS would solve the experience (or lack of experience) problem. Now for the biggest problem; getting Alex Rider.

**Royal & General Bank**

"No, no and no!"

"It's only reconnaissance mission, Alex. We just want to know what's going on there, you don't have to get involved." Let's say the conversation wasn't quite going to plan.

"My answer isn't changing. This isn't the first time you've said that and that time things went horribly wrong. I was almost adopted by a mad man."

"That was the CIA and the key word there, Alex, was ALMOST."

"Does it make any difference?" The question was dismissed by the rather plain man.

"This time you won't be alone. I thought it would be appropriate that since you will attending the school in question that you should have classmates that could possibly help you out."

"You're making more teenagers go through this hell?" there was a small silence in which the fair haired used to wisely gather his thoughts, "who are they?"

"I was hoping you could tell me. They are, after all, your classmates." He had never doubted that all those years of debating would pay off at some point in time.

"What are you implying?"

"They will be your aid. I needed five men but five boys will have to suffice."

"You're not giving me straight answers," Alex said and then quickly added, "I haven't agreed to this yet." Another key word: yet.

"I will be at arriving at your school tomorrow to select a few students, see you then." The man had twisted the conversation leaving the teenage spy with more questions than answers.

"Wait-" the boy said turning around to catch the man who had started to leave the room only to find that he had already disappeared. Alex Rider left the building with thoughts of getting even taking shape within his mind.

**Brookland School**

"I still don't agree with this, Mr. Blunt," the peppermint sucking woman stated.

"I'm not asking if you agree with it, Mrs. Jones. If we don't find out what is going on in that building then we may not be able to stop it. There is no other way around this. Alex Rider is the best man... I mean boy for the job," came the reply.

"Miss. Starbright is not going to like this," she persisted.

"She doesn't need to know. Now if you'll excuse me I have a meeting that I must attend." Again the man made a quick disappearance before the deputy head could object any further.

**

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**

For the second time in two days Alex Rider was left looking at the man he had quickly learned to hate. This time he was accompanied by nine classmates, the tenth being himself. Ten? Yes, what would happen if some of the students were not suitable for the part they needed to play. It could cause some rather annoying mistakes and Mr. Blunt hated mistakes just as much as he hated problems for a mistake was the beginning of a problem.

"From here on everything is confidential, nothing I say is to be repeated to anyone outside these walls. So, if you would please read and sign the sheet in front of you," the gray man said. Papers rustled as they read and then signed themselves into secrecy. As the last pen left the paper Mr. Blunt resumed his speech, "you're parents will be told that you will be attending a camp. A letter will be sent home informing them of this. You in fact will be attending a camp but a military camp where you will be tested on your strengths and weaknesses. I wish you luck."

'The luck will be to those who are rejected,' thought a boy who was quietly sitting in the corner of the room. The thought was accompanied by another, 'I'm not getting out of this am I?'

The man left, he was soon followed by the rest of the students, nine out of the ten wondering about what was in store for them.

**SAS (a week later) **

A group of ten students were being lead towards the meeting site. They could see all the events that were going on. A few of the soldiers started to stare but quickly caught themselves and returned to their tasks. The group of ten were lead to a room with five beds.

"With all the training going on here you'd think they'd have learned how to count," a dark haired boy called Ayden joked. A few of the other boys let out a couple of small but nervous laughs.

"Shot gun a bed," yelled another, this time a tall boy known as Cal. Before anything more could be said someone burst into the room. A man.

"We have no names here... usually. but seen as there are not enough code names to go around you will be addressed by your last names," the man yelled. Many of the boys held their breath either trying not to laugh at the man's red face or whimper at the veins popping out of his forehead.

"You will be split into two groups, the people in your group will be the only shoulder that will be available for you to cry on for the next week. These two barracks are where you will be spending the rare amount of spare time you have and where you will be sleeping," he continued. Now things were starting to make sense, there were two rooms. No one would be sleeping on the floor.

The man stopped pacing and faced one of the teenagers. A look of annoyance plastered on his face. "There will be no pranks, or anything else, that could possibly injure or harm anyone in anyway," he walked up to the boy and added in a whispered tone so only the few standing around him could hear, "even if your ass is about to get kicked out. Do I make myself clear?"

Many of the teens were confused by what had just happened but there were a lot of things about Alex Rider that were more confusing.

"Crystal, sir," Alex answered. Most had wondered how the fair haired teen had managed to refrain from flinching or stop his voice from coming out like someone had kicked him below the belt.

"Good," he said and then once again started addressing the entire room, "dinner is at 7:30, come late, you miss out. Remember I am not here to sympathize. Also groups will be posted tomorrow morning." He left with no word of goodbye.

Once the man was sure he was out of earshot he sighed and said to himself, "what has this place turned into, a daycare center?"

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**A/N: **Sorry I haven't written in ages but my computer crashed and I lost everything, it's still not fixed but this is the story I've been writting on my mums computer. Updates will be slow as I'm starting school soon and I have a waterpolo and tri camp coming up. 

Well this took so long to read and proof read. As for the sequel to Who Knows I'm kind of stuck at the moment with ideas on how to start it, anyone who has any ideas on how I can start it please HELP! So that along with it all dissapearing has made it extremely hard to write. I also recently looked back on the stories and realized that I need to totally rewrite them all so keep a look out for anything new.

As for this story, the other teens in it will not take the spotlight from Alex. He is, and always will be, the main character. I'm not fond of OC's but I needed them for the idea to work. Constructive criticism is welcome.

Well enough of the blabbering, R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If I owned Alex Rider the books wouldn't have made it to the shelves.

Warning: Language

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Soldier On

Chapter 2

Alex Rider was not in a good mood. The two things he hated most in the world had been combined, school and MI6. What could be worse? Oh yea, it was hard to forget that he would be spending the next two weeks at SAS with a man who would watching every move and know everything he did from what he ate for lunch to how many toilet breaks he had. It seemed that everything and everybody was against Alex Rider. Everyone was out to get him and make his life go from bad to worse.

You could say that the day started off bright and early, except for the fact that it was still dark when the training officer marched into each dorm singing "In the navy!" immediately after most boys noticed the words 'loser' slowly appearing in permanent marker on his forehead. He had been labeled.

Then came the first mistake, some of the boys had realized that if they missed breakfast that a longer time to sleep would be easily arranged. What they didn't realize was that they would be running 10km on an empty stomach. It was a test of endurance but boys being boys sprinted the first three kilometers and spent the remaining seven kilometers trying to keeps standing let alone keep moving.

After the run there were a few navigation and weapons briefs and tests before they were sent through a muddy obstacle course. Each boy dragged their legs through the finish line with a tired smile of achievement only to get an icy glare from the sergeant followed by a yell telling them that they would not be getting a rest anytime soon. Those who had lagged behind were not given the chance to catch up and fell even further behind.

Alex found himself cursing each and every person he hated under his breath as he ran the course for a third time. He had spent the last month slowly recovering from what had happened with Ark Angel and, of course, was not happy to find that Mr. Blunt and Mrs. Jones were head on the rescue team. He was just as annoyed to find that he would be given only a day off before he had to return to school. His teachers were not impressed with his inability to walk in a straight line.

Yes, things had gone from bad to worse 'and now even worse,' Alex thought as he felt it start to rain. He looked back to see a few of the other boys stare longingly at the sergeant as if waiting for him to tell them to get out of the rain. 'Yeah right,' Alex thought and changed his concentration back to getting the course finished. His motto being 'Finish first, shower, eat and sleep first,' while others tended to be 'go slow and they won't make you do the whole thing,' which Alex was sure wasn't going to happen. At least there was one thing that seemed to be in his favour, he knew how to make the two weeks here the easiest it could possibly be, which could mean the difference between finishing and total breakdown.

* * *

The room was loud and accompanied with the tiredness and hunger the boys felt made everything seem to go slow motion. They could smell the food and craved it but seemed unable to get it into their stomachs quick enough. The group of ten trudged in, filled their plates and sat quietly down at a free table.

"I am so tired," complained a rather short boy called James who was renowned for his rap/speech on his lack of height.

"State the obvious," another boy with geeky looking glasses retorted.

"Do you think there will be seconds?" A slightly over weight boy butted in. The others just stared at him before they continued to eat.

The first day had finally ended… only thirteen more to go.

* * *

It was either the end of the first week or beginning of the last. They had lost count of the days after first three days, deciding that counting down the days would only make the time go past slower. They were sent on an over night tramp to test their new abilities. The boys were split up into the two teams they had been assigned to on the day of their arrival.

For the first group the tramp itself was hard enough, they each managed to get soaked to the bone and fall over at some point. After they had overcome all the twisted ankles, grazed knees and cut up hands they managed to find the small clearing that had been marked on the map. The checkpoint was where they would be staying for the night. The sergeant was already there waiting.

"You are a full hour behind the first team. Pick up the pace or I will make you run this course again tomorrow, understood?" the man yelled.

"Yes, sir," came the tired reply as the boys slowly started walking into the clearing.

"Sorry, sir," a rather muddy boy said when he managed to stumble into the sergeant. There was no answer only a stare. Alex Rider was up to something.

The sergeant quickly left and the boys were once again alone to set up camp and start a fire. It was a rather pitiful attempt to start a fire. Alex watched silently, he was rather amused at their attempts and just as amused by the fact that the sergeant had not suspected anything. This was the second time he had managed to pick pocket the older mans' matches. He was also rather annoyed that he could not think of a more imaginative way to acquire the item.

An hour later the group seemed to give up. The fire was refusing to start and they weren't about to give up their small amount of sleep up just for a little bit of warmth and same hot food.

"We're going to freeze to death," complained one of the smaller teenagers who was already beginning to shiver from the chill of the night air. His name was Dylan and he had spiked blond hair that was never neat.

"No we're not," Said Alex. He put a muddy hand inside his trouser pocket and pulled out the matches.

"How'd you get th-"the boy with glasses whose name none could remember started but was cut off before he could finish.

"He pick pocketed them, stupid, where'd you learn to do that?" Matt said. He was a rather rough looking boy who seemed to know more about theft than Alex but he was never part of the gossip that went around school.

"My uncle taught me," Alex answered.

"Give 'em here," Matt demanded.

"That's a pitiful looking pile of wood," Alex said flipping over a small piece of wood and pocketing the matches once again.

A small sigh went around the group before they pulled each other off the ground and started looking for more wood, with the ever watchful, Alex Rider to guide them. They spent the next half and hour trying to make the pile of wood good enough so that Alex would hand over the matched and they could finally eat and get to sleep.

The night wasn't much better than the day. The ground was hard and no matter how many times they rolled over there was always a root or something else poking them. They finally managed to close there eyes only to hear an alarm go off.

"Where's the fire?" A tall, dark haired teen asked sleepily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Dylan threw his pillow at the taller boy. Jacob; who was more commonly known as Jake, shrugged his shoulders and went back to sleep.

Five minutes later the four of them woke up to find that the tent had collapsed on top of them.

"Wake up!" Someone yelled. No one moved. "You guys must really want to run the course again." Before anything more could be said the other four were out of the tent and getting breakfast ready.

Alex laughed at the look on their faces. It had worked, hadn't it?

The tramp back was uneventful but now that they had sorted things out there was less arguing and more walking. Matt would set the pace, the boy with glasses would work the map and compass and the rest would give suggestions to help them get back to base quicker.

"Congratulations you are the first team back to base," the sergeant said. He didn't let it show that he was rather proud of the group, though he knew it had something to do with Alex and the missing matches and he wasn't exactly happy about it.

He decided to wait for the second group to finish before confronting Alex about the matches.

* * *

"Shit, Cub! What'd ya do?" A man said, entering the dorm. He had heard shouting coming from the area and decided to check it out.

The teen turned to look at who had entered the room and was baffled at who stood before him, "Wolf?"

"What'd ya do?" Wolf repeated. At that point Alex decided that this was his chance to get away and ran towards the door leaving the rest of Alex's team mates staring and wondering what the hell was going on.

"Nothing!" he yelled back to the older man before he got through the door. 'Denial is the first step,' Alex thought but quickly shook it from his mind.

"Nothing? Then why are you running away?" Wolf asked sprinting to keep up with the younger boy. The fair haired boy stopped running and turned to his old team mate.

"Good point. Alright, so I pick pocketed another box of matches from the sergeant and then denied the fact that I took them," Alex admitted, "It's actually really stupid but he made a big deal out of it."

"Still the same Cub," Wolf said, laughing to himself.

'Hardly,' Alex thought to himself. He been through a lot and it had changed him in a lot of ways but being at the camp had let him forget those things for a bit and be with people his own age. He got to be himself for a while, someone who he thought had been forgotten when he had been blackmailed into doing MI6's dirty work. "What are you doing here, anyway?" Alex asked.

"The sergeant asked me to keep an eye on a few teenagers for the next week," Wolf said smirking as he watched Cub realize what was going on.

"What?!"

It was going to be interesting with Wolf in charge of their very lives and a week for him to do what ever he wanted to do with them, a very interesting week indeed.

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**A/N:** Hey, Well that's it for this chapter. I haven't really described the other characters in detail because half of them only have a very minor part. I'm also really sorry if there are any grammatical errors, I'm so tired. I did too much in a small amount of time and practically killed myself so I'm not as aware of spelling mistakes.

Anyway, I've just got back from tri camp (I swam across Lake Taupo!) and school starts in a week so, as I said before, chapters will be slow.

I want to say thanks to xkristy101, draggie, AD, cricketchick1990Saynt JimmyEmbryBetween The Nightmaresand MissMeliss4251for their lovely reviews. I'm sorry but I don't have time to reply personally to all of them but I will try in future. Right now though I only have time for one so:

Kates Master's SisterLol, ok I'll read through chapter one when I have time and try and correct some of those errors. Yeah, I have no idea why it needs to be Miss. Blah but I hate red squiggly lines, oh well next time I will keep that in mind. Thanks for the help, there is always room for improvement. Also thanks heaps for the review!

R&R!


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: If Alex Rider were mine then I'd be a middle aged man...but I'm not.

Warning: Languge

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Soldier On

Chapter 3

Alex Rider could tell that Wolf was enjoying himself. The huge smile that would appear on his face whenever he made them run drills was a huge give away. Wolf had decided that Alex wasn't being pushed to his very limits and as a result Alex soon found himself doing more work than anyone else. He could tell that the others had noticed but they seemed to think that it had something to do with the newly found matches.

The week slowly passed with Alex finding it harder to get up each day and even harder to get through the drills that had been set. He found himself tiring easily and the scar from the bullet wound on his chest was beginning to ache more than usual. He was ready to go home and sleep for a week.

As normal the teens were woken up before dawn and were pushed into the eating area before they got ready for their final day at SAS. Alex knew that Wolf had something big planned for all of them and he knew that it would push them all over the edge. He tried not to think about what was going to happen and just tried to finish what was happening at the present time, trying to get along with his roommates.

"Aloha, my chicken flavoured friends," Dylan said bursting into the dorm giving the boy with glasses a fright which resulted in the boy falling off the back of the bed. The other team members laughed as the teen straightened up his glasses.

"Sorry but I don't know your name," Alex said helping the boy to his feet.

"Daniel, but you can call me Danny," the boy answered.

"Cool, I'll see you around, Danny," Alex said and then walked off leaving the boy confused at why Alex had helped him.

The final day was about to begin.

**

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**"Alright everybody, today we are going to do three things. For each one of these things you are going to need a different skill. The idea is to complete these within the set time or you will be doing it over and over again until you finish it within the time frame," Wolf said, "The first test is endurance, you are all going to run 15km in two and a half hours, it is a slow time but this is about endurance not speed." The teenagers groaned at the thought and looked in disbelief at Wolf, each boy wanting him to jump up and scream "April Fools!" 

"The second task is going to test you ability to work in a team," Wolf continued," you will be given an hour to get all members to the other side of a mud pit. In the mud pit there are wooden poles sticking out of the ground, the only equipment you will be allowed to use is a rope and three planks of wood. The trick is you're not allowed to touch the mud and the poles are too far away for you to jump to them."

"The third and final task will test your ability to gather information; you will be given a clue that will lead you to the next and so on. Each clue will also have a puzzle piece and at the end you will piece them all together. Sort of like a treasure hunt but with guns. If you get caught you will be locked in isolation for the rest of the exercise and then repeat it. You will be given three hours to complete this last task. Good luck." With that the boys split up into their groups and started the tests with Alex's group ten minutes ahead of the other group.

**Task 1: Endurance**

The boys started the race knowing that it was going to be long, which seemed to make it even worse because they eventually got bored to the point of insanity but Alex didn't get bored, no, he got an endless amount of entertainment from Wolf yelling at him.

"Hurry up Cub! I know you can run faster than that!" Wolf shouted as he began to lag behind the time Wolf expected him to do the run in. Alex felt like taking him down then and there but decided against it and tried to focus on his right foot landing in the correct place. He had learnt that if you focused on something in detail you'd forget about running and it's become easier to keep going.

Alex lapped a slightly overweight boy who was in the second group and wasn't even attempting the drill. As he passed him the teen yelled out, "How do ya know 'im, Rider? Was he a Juvie buddy?"

Alex couldn't help himself; he put out his foot and tripped the teen up so that he fell flat on his face, then walked up to the boy and squatted beside him, "We were cellmates," he joked and laughed at the look on the boys face before he ran off to finish the final two kilometers of the endurance task.

**Task 2: Team work **

As normal the first ten minutes were spent arguing. According to Danny the team had too many chiefs and not enough Indians but the bickering soon stopped when Wolf announced the fifteen minute mark which seemed to wake them up to the fact that they were losing time.

After exactly forty-three minutes and two seconds the team managed to get to the other side, after many mishaps. Few of the members had fallen into the mud; as a result they had had to restart the task from the beginning.

The boys collapsed on to the ground after the second task, glad that they only had one more task to complete before they could go home but the rest was short lived and they soon found themselves at the start of the last task.

**Task 3: Gathering Information**

The task was not going how Alex had envisioned it. After an hour of running around and finding three of the twenty clues he had realized that they were not going to make it and to make things worse they had two of the guards on their trail.

"Go left!"

"No! Idiot, go right!" shouted the other voice.

"No man you're reading the map upside down! Go left," the first voice replied.

"Freeze!" another voice ordered from behind them. The group slowly turned around to find two of the guards pointing paintball guns at them. 'I am not doing this again,' Alex thought as the guards slowly advanced on them.

Alex waited until the two men got closer before he kicked out. It was swift and the last thing they had expected. Before long the two of them found themselves tied to a tree and their fake guns had been confiscated.

Alex started walking again but soon realized that the others were not following him. "Are you coming?" he asked, annoyed. He wanted this over and done with.

"Shit, Rider where'd that come from?"

"I'm tired, cranky and I want to go home so **do not** mess with me," Alex answered his patience slowly disintegrating. The others did even think a word of protest and slowly followed the teenage spy.

The last task was finally finished and the other group joined them two hours later. Wolf took his place in front the group.

"Mr Blunt wishes to see the following students in his office…"

**

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**

**A/N: **Hey all, I'm sorry this took so long it's been hard at my new school because it's really big compared to my old one and I don't like getting lost but I'm lucky that all my friends are in most of my classes. Also I've just had to switch everything from my mum's computer back to mine now that it is up and working again so getting everything back where it was supposed has taken up a lot of my time.

Another sorry about this chapter being so boring, the next should be better as secrets are planned to be revealed.

Also a big thanks to all my lovely reviewers!!! They're all really helpful and encouraging. Without you this story would not be written. Again I'm sorry I can't reply personally to all the reviews so each chapter I will reply to the best/most helpful/most filled with questions review, ha ha, anyway thank you to:

**Saynt Jimmy, Kates Master's Sister, naitodoragon, insanechildfanfic, Fighter Pilot, Mpro1, MissMeliss4251, Pischk, midnightsun **and **R1D3R**

**cricketchick1990**There will be more interaction with Wolf and Alex in the next chapter also more secrets are going to be revealed by Mr Blunt and a few other characters in the next chapter. It doesn't really say it in the story but Alex is holding back until Wolf starts to increase what he's doing for his own pleasure. Thanks for the review, I like reviews like yours because it gives me more to think about like what I could add to make it better and what other people like to read so thanks again.

**R&R!!! **

**Erin **(or the much hated penname evilblondie)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I will own Alex Rider when pigs fly.

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Soldier On

Chapter 4

Daniel Fitzpatrick, Cal Evans, Jared Turner, Matt Taylor and Alex Rider found themselves once again sitting in front of the plain man that was to change their lives forever; his name was Mr. Alan Blunt.

"First of all I'd like to congratulate you on your team work, stamina and the overall effort you put into the last two weeks," Mr. Blunt spoke, his voice monotone and dull as if he was speaking at the boy's funeral, which Alex thought was slightly appropriate. "Now onto the more important stuff, you will be sent to New Zealand to gather information on why we are intercepting strange signals from a school. After you have gathered the information you are to get to the safe house. The location of it will be shown to you in due time. There is great risk in this so we have, after much deliberation, decided to give one of you a gun."

"We weren't taught how to use a gun, sir," complained Jared, a lanky, dark haired boy.

"That's where he comes in," Mr. Blunt said pointing to a seemly calm member of the newly formed team.

"Alex Rider?" Came Danny's confused voice.

"Alex Rider," confirmed Mr. Blunt, adding an unseen smirk. The group turned and stared at the fair haired boy.

"What makes you think I can use a gun, sir?" Alex said, staring the older man down as if wishing he would suddenly spontaneously combust.

"Don't be stupid, Alex. I know what you're capable of," the man answered calmly.

"I haven't agreed to this," Alex said, giving it one last shot. Their secret was still safe but Alex knew that there would be questions, questions which he would rather leave unanswered.

"But you're the only one who can do this and there's always that little problem with Miss Starbright that could be fixed," the older man said coldly. Alex threw him an icy glare to match but knew that it was no use. He had always been MI6's puppet and it wasn't about to change anytime soon. "Good, we are in agreement then," Mr. Blunt continued, "Now, I will see you at five in the morning. Mrs. Jones will show you to where you will be eating dinner and then directing you to your rooms for the night."

* * *

The group followed the second in command out of the room and down the corridor, each of the students giving Alex strange looks.

"What's the hell is going on, Rider," Jared asked. The team was seated at a long plain table, the food already served. Jared was sure that their conversation wasn't being overheard but Alex knew better.

The teenage spy let out a long sigh, he knew it wouldn't be long before they knew the truth but giving them the partial truth would keep them off his trail long enough for him to figure exactly how to tell them.

"They're sort of family friends," he said eventually.

"What about the gun? How do you know how to use a gun?" Cal asked.

"My uncle used to take me to shooting ranges when he was alive. It was one of his hobbies," Alex said. He was starting to feel uneasy under the eyes of the group and the sudden urge to look down at his shoes was starting to become too strong to withstand.

"Whatever, guys just leave him alone. We all need to eat and get to bed," Danny said. Alex had saved him once so he was only returning the favour, but he knew his curiosity would soon get the better of him too.

"Thanks," Alex said quietly as the group unwillingly started picking at their food.

* * *

Alex wasn't one to complain but this was ridiculous. Tomorrow they were going to be flown out to a school in New Zealand to find out why weird signals were being sent halfway across the world, who they were for (or from) and possibly what they meant. Alex couldn't seem to figure out why it was so important that they go or why it was really that important at all. "It just doesn't fit," he said aloud.

"What doesn't fit?" a voice asked from the doorway, it was Danny. Alex had returned from dinner early finding that he had no appetite, and the constant feeling that everyone could see right through him made him queasy. Alex wasn't aware of the fact that Danny had left soon after him, his mind still full of curiosity.

"Everything," he admitted and then added as if reading the shorter boys mind, "you know curiosity killed the cat."

"Well I'm not a cat so that wouldn't apply to me, now would it," Danny stated almost bitterly. He walked into the room and sat down on the bed opposite to Alex's. "Why don't you just tell me what's going on and for once try and tell the truth."

"The truth is this isn't the first mission that Mr. Rider has been on," another voice revealed. Both Alex and Dannys' heads turned sharply around to see Mr. Blunt standing in the doorway, as stiff as ever, wearing the same thick rimmed glasses he always wore. "Alex, I suggest you inform your peers of your endeavors. They will find out eventually and it may be a smart idea to be on good terms with them. You have my permission to tell them, they have already signed the Official Secrets Act."

"Have you thought that maybe I don't want them to know," Alex announced.

"What ever floats you're boat, but Mr. Cole is expecting an explanation," Mr. Blunt continued, Alex gave him a weird look, he was acting very out of character. "It's not all about you this time, Alex," he said finally before leaving the two boys alone.

"What the hell was that about?" Danny demanded, now there was no way Alex could get out of this one.

"Promise me you won't tell the others and I'll give you all the details you want," Alex compromised.

"Promise," Danny agreed without hesitation. He looked eagerly at Alex who took a deep breath and began his story.

"Alright so to basically sum it up, all those times I was away 'sick' I was actually off somewhere doing things for MI6, like spying sort of things. You probably remember all the stuff about the Stormbreaker computers and that whole deal with Damian Cray, um…well," Alex was silent for a moment," that was me." Once again the room was quiet for a moment but suddenly Alex let out a little laugh, "and I was the one who burnt down part of the school but it was an accident, I swear. I've done a heap of other things too but now that I think about it I sort of got myself into them, though I wouldn't have been in any of those situations if MI6 hadn't decided to poke around in my life. Also just to make things clear, James Bond had it easy, it's really not that glamorous."

"So that's how you knew that army man and why you know all that stuff about this place and we don't. Why you know how to use a gun," Danny said. Everyone knew there was something different about Alex Rider but Danny had never thought that it would be this big. This couldn't be real but the more he put the pieces together the more he just couldn't push it aside as another one of Alex Rider's stupid rumors. This was real.

"Actually they never taught me how to use a gun; they've never let me have one before now. My uncle really was the one who showed me how to use them," Alex added.

"Are you actually serious?"

"Dead serious, though I wish I wasn't," Alex said, "you loose a lot more that you think doing these sorts of things, and as a teenager you give up more than you should have to." At that moment Danny looked at Alex and saw that for once he had let his guard down. He could see what emotions Alex was really feeling and he didn't want to see them anymore. He didn't want to know. One look at the real Alex told him that he shouldn't be here, this wasn't a game.

"You're never too young to die," Alex said, before the two relapsed into silence.

* * *

Finally the time had come. In no less that an hour the group of five would be heading out and emotions were taking control of the teenager's actions. Anxiousness. Tension. Curiosity. Nervousness. Worry. Awkwardness. Anticipation. Fear. Each teenager had a certain way of expressing these emotions and it really wasn't helping. Some didn't want to talk, some talked too much. Others simply wouldn't stop squirming in their seats. All this slowly lead up to one very cranky Alex Rider.

As expected the teenage spy had been constantly questioned but he repeatedly refused to give any real answer. The truth was he didn't really know how to tell them. Danny had found out because Mr. Blunt had told him. It wasn't as if he could just say to them, 'oh and by the way, I'm a spy. Last card, I win!' After all Sabina hadn't believed him when he had told her, why should this be any different? It would just be easier to let them find out on their own.

The minutes slowly crept by but eventually it was time to board the plane. Alex was trying to find anyway possible out of the mission but Mr. Blunt knew him better that he had originally thought. His attempt to pull a sickie resulted in a doctor call, his next try to and sneak out the window got a lot of attention from pedestrians but was a complete and utter failure, and his final attempt ended with Mrs. Jones screaming, "do you have a death wish?" which he could only laugh at. Success rate: 0.

There was truly no turning back.

* * *

**A/N: **Well sorry that took so long, I was kind of bored with the plot line because everyone seemed to start writing the same thing (anybody else notice that?), but I hope you liked this chapter and aren't too mad at me! It turned out a little different than what I had originally planned so some things I said in my last authors note are wrong, sorry. Also don't worry I have some new ideas now and I can't wait to use them. (Tell me if you want bio's on the guys in a review and I'll put them in the next chapter and if you don't understand something just ask, I know this chapter is a bit confusing and doesn't have a lot of detail.)

K, well thanks has to go to: **Josephine18, ThJaFl, queen.of.queens, LadyShadowOfTime, jackynasty, megan, insanechildfanfic, Embry, cricketchick1990, R1D3R, MissMeliss4251** and **Gold is power, **for the reviews.

**Dappledsunlight:** Hey! Thanks for the really long review! I haven't met any other NZders on this site either, but then again coming across it was totally accidental. Yea, I'm really bad at spelling and grammar sometimes. I never really listened in English because I pissed off the teacher and the teacher pissed me off. O well, she was rather shocked when I got one of the highest marks in the end of year of exams, ha ha. It probably doesn't flow because I do it in chunks and depending on what mood I'm in it'll either all be good or sound like total crap. I'm sorry it took so long and I'm gonna have to think through that whole beta thing a bit more because it takes me years to update, and my inspiration usually comes from the Alex Rider books or the movies and at the moment nothing new has come out so you'll probably get really annoyed with me or something. Also I've never had one and I don't know how the whole thing works. Anyway thank you so much for the review, the suggestions and the offer!

Erin (previously evilblondie)

R&R!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: If Alex Rider were mine? Oh the fun I'd have…too bad it's just a fantasy.

Warning: minor swearing

* * *

Soldier On

Chapter 5

Alex sunk deeper into his chair. He knew that if Jack were here she would be laughing at how much his mood made him seem like a woman. That usually would have cheered him up, but she wasn't here now. Alex squirmed in his seat again, trying and failing to get himself into a more comfortable position. Something was bugging him and he knew from experience that trusting his instincts was always the smart thing to do. Sure he had the 'luck of the devil,' but that didn't change the fact that the devil was rather attracted to him. The gun made him feel a little safer but also made him more anxious. He didn't think he could kill anyone, Scorpia had proved that. It was just another thing that Alex Rider had to hide from the world and he was already hiding too much.

Danny had noticed Alex's frustration and it was only making him feel worse. Alex was supposed to be the calm one, the one who kept everyone from completely loosing it and here he was slowly sliding further and further down his seat, as if all he wanted to do was disappear into the ground. So much for being reassured.

The five teens were seated across the middle row of the plane. Alex had made sure that he had gotten the end seat; as far away from the others as he possibly could.

"Hey guys, do you want to play cards?" Cal asked, his vibrant, blue eyes twinkling mischievously. Alex had a sudden flashback of the game of last card he had envisioned but quickly shook the idea out of his head. He accepted the offer, hoping it would get his mind off things. Danny must have had a similar idea because he had answered 'yes,' before the other teen had managed to finish the question. Cal dealt out the cards and the intense game of 'Presidents and Scum' began.

Half an hour later Alex was beginning to understand Cal's mischievous grin. He had won every single game and had self proclaimed himself the 'Master of Cards.' Alex wasn't about to disagree with him…until he got an idea. It was Alex's turn to shuffle and he had decided to put the skills his uncle had taught him to the test (as well as examining just much he had to teach the new arrivals). Being vice scum meant he would have to hand his best card over to Danny (the vice president) but receiving the worst would not hinder his master plan.

The other members of the team were oblivious to the fact that Alex had snuck a few cards up his sleeve while shuffling, and was now proceeding to distract the group so that they didn't realize that his cards were in fact falling from his sleeve, and not his hand. After that it was a simple matter of putting down his practically perfect hand.

Cal frowned as Alex smirked. Of course the other teen was suspicious, the blue eyed boy still had half a hand full of cards. Alex Rider had beaten the 'Master of Cards' at his own game.

"This game sucks ass. I don't want to play anymore," Cal announced, his ego dramatically reducing in size.

"You're only saying that because you lost," Matt responded, gathering the cards and returning them to the pack.

"We've got to read what's in those folders anyway," Danny said. He was referring to their cover stories, though there wasn't much to learn. Only one person had something to hide and even then it wasn't like a sixteen year old (1) exchange student would look suspicious.

**

* * *

**

Two rows behind the teens Tulip Jones looked at the folder sitting on her lap; it was the teens case file. She had told Mr Blunt that she wished to accompany the boys on the flight to answer any questions and make sure they arrived safely. The truth was she was scared for them. She had heard about the failed attempt with the other child and she obviously wasn't keen on taking that same route. She opened the file for the fifth time that day, memorizing the words, as if hoping that if they were safe in her mind that they would be safe physically too.

Agents Assigned-

**_-Daniel Fitzpatrick_ **

**Height:** short for his age

**Weight:** light

**Hair colour:** light brown

**Eyes:** green

**Physical Condition:** average

**Skills:** intelligent(excels in technology and factual knowledge)

**Experience:** none (aside from than two weeks SAS training)

**_-Cal Evans_**

**Height:** average

**Weight:** average

**Hair colour:** fair

**Eyes:** blue

**Physical Condition:** above average

**Skills:** showed lots of promise in evading capture and operated well when pressured and questioned

**Experience:** none (aside from than two weeks SAS training)

**_-Jared Turner_**

**Height:** tall

**Weight:** average

**Hair colour:** brown

**Eyes:** brown

**Physical Condition:** excellent

**Skills:** excelled in athletics and stamina work (national cross country champion)

**Experience:** none (aside from than two weeks SAS training)

**_-Matthew Taylor_**

**Height:** above average

**Weight:** above average

**Hair colour:** dark brown

**Eyes:** blue

**Physical Condition:** above average

**Skills:** has strength both physically and personality wise

**Experience:** none (aside from than two weeks SAS training)

**_-Alex Rider_**

**Height:** average

**Weight:** average

**Hair colour:** fair

**Eyes:** brown

**Physical Condition:** excellent (may have been compromised by recent injury)

**Skills:** excelled in everything (also knows karate and is fluent in French and Spanish (for more skills refer to file: A. Rider.)

**Experience:** involved with the CIA, MI6 and ASIS. His first field operation was...

… She didn't need to read the rest, she knew what he had done. Most people in the business had.

Mrs Jones sighed, stuck another peppermint in her mouth and pretended to watch the in-flight movie.

(A/N: Sorry about it being so vague.)

**

* * *

**

"Alex?" Danny whispered.

"Hmm?" Alex answered, half asleep.

"All those times you were away…um, were you doing stuff like this?" the shorter boy asked, making sure the others couldn't hear.

"Yeah."

"Did you get hurt?"

"Yeah."

"Was it bad?"

"I was shot," the answer was simple and to the point. Danny couldn't keep the look of shock off his face. The teen swallowed deeply and decided not to say anything more, leaving Alex to withdraw back into his mind.

A seat down from Danny, Matt was pretending to listen to music; the truth being that he had muted the sound. Like Danny he couldn't keep his expression from betraying the revelation, luckily neither of the boys had seen his face.

Matthew Taylor returned the music to its original volume level but still could not hear it. His mind too busy piecing together the puzzle of Alex Rider to be able to pay attention to the song.

**

* * *

**

The flight finally landed and the passengers made their way through customs. The five teens dragged themselves through baggage claim while Mrs Jones constantly nagged at them about the 'exchange.'

While the others followed a lady in a lilac suit off to their transport Mrs Jones pulled Alex aside.

"I'm sorry, Alex," she said, "I really didn't want you to be dragged into this again." Alex noticed how much emotion she was letting through her mask, something was wrong. Why would she be so worried about him?

"Wha-?" he started.

"Sorry," she said, cutting him off and walking away before anything more could be said.

"Great," Alex muttered angrily to himself, "just great, first Blunt and now her." Why were people always making a fast exit when he needed answers?

"What was that about?" Danny asked when Alex managed to catch up with the group.

"Nothing, she was just making sure I knew what to do, "he lied. Danny knew it was a lie, he'd seen the questioning look on the teens face as the lady had spoken to him.

"Whatever," Danny answered. He was mad at Alex for taking the weight alone when there were four others that he could now share it with. That weight had ended with him somehow being shot. Why couldn't he just accept that a teenager shouldn't have to keep secrets this big from his friends?

"I'm hungry!" Jared suddenly announced.

"Dinner will be served at Bruce House when we get to the school," the lilac lady answered, a term that the boys still referred to her by even though she'd earlier introduced herself as Mrs Noble.

"What's Bruce House?" Cal asked.

"It's the boarding house."

"Oh."

The boys finally made it to the van and started throwing their luggage into the boot.

"What a weird one," Cal said, referring to Lilac Lady's sudden entrance into their conversation.

"Shut up, Cal," Matt snapped. Lack of sleep had put him in a worse mood than usual, not to mention the sudden revelation had constantly been nagging at the edges of his mind. Questions he knew he couldn't ask here were trying to make it to the surface. He didn't know how much longer he could hold himself back and fighting with Cal just seemed like a way to relieve the need.

"Neh neh neh," Cal teased.

"Grow up!" Alex yelled at them.

"Kill joy," Cal muttered, getting into the van next to Jared.

The ride to the school took about forty-five minutes and was almost silent, apart from Cal's seemly random outbursts when a song he knew came on the radio. The others were at a total loss as to why he was in such a good mood. They eventually came to the conclusion that while others grew quieter as they became tired and stressed, the hyper teen became louder.

"Where are the sheep?" Cal asked as the five teens stepped out of the white van. His face was strangely sad from the lack of the four-legged, woolly jumpers.

**-End of chapter 5-**

* * *

(1) I made them older because of many reasons but the main one being that you only usually get exchange students in yr12 (form 6 or 16-17years old). 

**A/N: **Just want to say sorry for this chapter taking so long. Also want to say sorry about the sheep thing at the end, I couldn't resist. I thought that this chapter gave a better insight of Cal's character as well as managing to incorporate a little bio of the guys (for rmiller92). Last but not least., if anyone wants an idea of what the school looks like just visit my profile page, I'll put up a link to this virtual tour thing (I couldn't get any pictures), just scroll over the spot you want and pictures should pop up (if not click on it first). Hope you like it!

Thanks heaps to everyone who reviewed, a better summary really does work. So thanks to:

**rmiller92, hahaheeheehaha **(ha ha), **snowember, disused, Karina, Rose-Aislin, liz22463, digiMist, Master of Minds, Anonymous-chic, Sephony, hails, Niobe, Gold is Power, HawkEye DownUnder, AD**

**Cricketchick1990: **Haha, I'm using NZ because I'm really familiar with it. I've lived there all my life, lol, and don't really know anywhere else well enough. Thanks for the review. Also want to say sorry because you sent me a few PM's and I can't remember if I replied or not (just found them because my computer died and I couldn't get any emails for ages). Yay for crazy teen drivers and sheep filled kiwi's!!! (By the way I'm from Auckland, where abouts are you from?)

**Rater: **I'm sorry if it's a bit confusing. I have a tendency to make thing stupidly complicated for some reason. Hope this is alright and if you still don't understand, just say and I will try and make it better next chapter, thanks for reviewing (for the first time!)

**Saynt Jimmy: **I know it takes ages for me to update so sorry about that, I bet everyone is sick of hearing that I'm going to make updates quicker but then don't. I think it's alright that people have the same storyline, as long as it's good and their own. You're awesome! Thanks for the review!

A big thanks also goes to **dappledsunlight **for being an awesome beta! Thank you!

Once again thanks heaps to everyone! Cya next chapter!

Erin

(xXHereWeGoAgainXx)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Warning: Language

* * *

Soldier On 

Chapter Six 

What is a secret? Is it something you keep to save your own ass? Or maybe to save someone else's? Either way that secret will constantly nag at you and keep you awake at night. Alex knew the feeling well and he just wished that for once it would leave him alone. The lights had long been turned off but he had yet to pass into that blissful state of unconsciousness. It was two in the morning before he eventually gave up and decided that this would be a perfect time to check out the school. He climbed out the window and made his way down the grass slope, passing the sports centre on his way. Alex had tried his best to remember where everything was from the tour but the school was huge and the sudden lack of light was not helping his directional skills. He was making his way to the science block when he suddenly felt something rub up against his leg. The sudden contact made him jump but experience kept him quiet. Alex tried to calm his beating heat when he realized that the blob of white fur was not a threat. The cat seemed intent on following him for the rest of the night, meowing softly trying to get the teen spy's attention.

"Shhhh," he told it but, unfortunately for Alex, it didn't seem to want to listen. Fifteen minutes later he gave up for the second time that night and headed back to his room. He climbed back through the window and was about to close it when the cat jumped onto the ledge and into the room.

"Look, a cat," a remark he knew was distinctly Cal's. (For some reason he had ended up stuck with the hyper teen, Jared had said something about not being a morning person.)

"Yeah, do you want it?" Alex answered. Cal picked up the small animal and placed it on his bed.

"I know; I shall call you Sheep and you shall be my Sheep," he said, stroking the white fur. "So where have you been?"

"I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk, just to see if anything was out of the ordinary," Alex answered truthfully.

"So was anything?"

"Dunno, I got lost."

Cal laughed and Alex gave him an evil glare to match.

Five minutes later the two teens were fast asleep.

* * *

_The Next Morning_

"Practice safe eating guys, always use condiments," Cal said as the five teens walked into breakfast.

Alex wasn't sure how long he was going to be able to keep his sanity. When you're trying to keep an eye on four teenage spies in training, and somehow manage not to get yourself killed, things tend to take a turn for the worse. All Alex wanted to do was escape the sheep crazed teen; and his side-kick (who had been left in the small dorm), and get the hell out of the cramped and noisy room. Matt was still staring, managing to creep the hell out of him, while Danny was simply in awe at where he was. On the other side of the table Jared and Cal were quarrelling over whose inferiority complex was better. The five boys were all sitting at a simple wooden table with the rest of the boarders. Alex looked around at them, some were staring at the small group and the others were more focused on their food, either way they looked, well… normal.

There was one thing that did help the group of spies; the constant chatting. Sure it was a pain in the ass and the accent was really strange but if you actually listened to a conversation you could learn just about anything about the school. So far Alex had come to the conclusion that Saint Kentigerns College was not your typical school. For one being a private but co-ed school was something you didn't see everyday. The second point was that, from what Alex had gathered, the boys hugely out numbered the girls. The third was how amazingly carefree everyone was. And then there was the teachers, you had your typical good, bad and horrendous ones but when you walk past a teacher that suddenly bursts into, 'Seasons of Love' an octave higher than what he should be able to you immediately come to the conclusion that something must be seriously wrong. It just didn't seem to fit. Surely, if you wanted to choose a place to hide something sinister you wouldn't choose a place that stood out, you'd choose something that kept you out of the spotlight.

At 8:40am the bell rang for the start of school, something Alex wasn't really looking forward to. He hated the idea of not knowing where his escape routes were or where the best place to hide would be. He hated that he knew no one and didn't know what they could be hiding. Basically he was just being his plain old moody self and he was scared that the slightest thing would suddenly send him into a fit of laughter and he wouldn't be able to stop. The others seemed to be in a completely different state. Cal was practically asleep on the desk, his seemly endless supply of energy gone while Danny looked around anxiously as if trying to analyze everything. Matt had his arms crossed and his brow was creased, once again lost in his thoughts, so much that Alex wondered if the larger teen would even notice if a pig flew past the window. And then there was Jared, who had his long legs tucked up close to his chest as he chewed on the remains of his nails with a vacant look on his face. Unlike Cal, Jared had always been rather quiet and shy, but he was still never afraid to confront anything. His personality often confused people and as a result most just stayed away.

The week passed slowly for the teens and every bizarre class seemed to drag on and on. They'd each been placed in different classes so that they could have a wider knowledge of what was going on in the school and like most schools there were moments that made you question how people could think of themselves as civilized. Danny got an 'E' in Maths and became hugely confused when people started complaining that they only got an 'A' (1), Matt learnt how to say, 'Help I've been raped, call the police,' in French, Jared watched a whole season of Grey's Anatomy, Cal joined two other blondes and pretended to be a drug addict for a whole drama internal (1), and Alex walked into music to find two teens sitting under the table, a group of four girls practically rolling on the ground laughing and a ken doll trapped in an air vent.

Outside of the classes was even worse. Alex was left to his thoughts, not only thinking about what the hell he'd gotten himself into, but how things had managed to be so strange from the beginning. It made it even worse when he found a scorpion drawn on the side of one of the buildings. Swearing under his breath Alex made his way back to the dorm, unsure of what to do. He used the 'iPod' that MI6 had given him to try and contact them, hoping like hell that it'd be enough to get them out but knowing truthfully that it wouldn't. He didn't know why the scorpion was there anyway; was it to tell others to keep away, to lead the way for those who were involved… or was it there as a warning? He was scared but at least he now had an idea of what was going on.

The next few nights he was joined by Sheep and Danny; who had been nagging at him for ages about what they were doing. Danny saw the more serious and darker Alex return each night as they scanned the campus. For him there had been nothing out of the ordinary, no lights at night, no doors unlocked (though they had to be careful not to start the alarm and Danny had silently thanked Smithers for the helpful gadget.)

Alex wanted to wait for the weekend to come before the others joined in, when he knew more about what was going on and how safe it was. Unfortunately the constant midnight walks had made Cal suspicious.

"I just can't sleep, ok," Alex half lied, "it's nothing."

Cal gave him a strange look. "I'm not as stupid as you think I am, Alex," the teen answered. "I can see how sneaking out is almost second nature to you and when you were around Mr Blunt and Mrs Jones you weren't afraid of them. What kind of person isn't afraid of some of the most powerful people in the world?" Alex wasn't use to seeing Cal like this and now he didn't know what to do.

"I know that you couldn't tell me because you didn't know how to explain it without me throwing it back in your face," Cal continued. "But don't treat me like a kid, I need to be able to handle this and I want to get out of here. I don't want to be stuck in a constant cycle of running and hiding."

Suddenly Alex was angry. "There is no getting out of this, Cal. Once you're in there is no way out. I know this is Scorpia and I know it's a trap. This was a one way ticket. MI6 had no intention of bringing me back, they knew that the only way to save themselves was to let me die," he saw the sudden fear on Cal's face and stopped, taking a deep breath. "But I'm not going to, at least not before I get you guys out of here."

"And how are you going to do that?" Cal asked, his voice shaking slightly.

"I'm going to finish the mission and you guys are going to stay out of it," Alex snapped.

And that was how it ended. Cal learnt nothing about Alex but more than he needed to about the mission. The nights before lights out after the outburst became hugely awkward and even Sheep seemed more quiet and aware.

_

* * *

_

At about eleven on the Thursday night Alex heard the change in Cal's breathing, telling him that the teen was asleep. Sheep was nestled up by his legs, perfectly mimicking the expression on the blue-eyed boys face. One thing that Alex did like about Sheep was the amazing piercing blue eyes that not only belonged to him but to the teen that he had grown so close to over the last week. It was strange for a cat but Alex wasn't bothered by it. Suddenly he saw a shadow pass the window. Silently Alex got to his feet, knowing that 'lights out' had not been long ago and that a teacher would still likely be up. He kept low and peeked out the window, finding the dark out line of someone moving quietly around the building. Alex could tell who it was by their shape and the way they moved. He climbed out the window and went after the figure.

"Matt!" Alex hissed when he reached a safe distance (close enough to be able to hear the teen whisper but not close enough to startle the larger boy). The shadow quickly turned around to face Alex.

"Who's there?" He asked.

"It's Alex, what the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm trying to find out what's going on here. Nobody else seems to care." All Alex could do was sigh, he wished he'd done things differently now. He wished he taken Mr Blunt's advice and told them his secrets and he wished that he'd done more to stop the mission. The truth was that spying was in his blood and no matter what he did he wouldn't be able to get away from the world that he had entered after the death of his uncle. So really it had been completely and entirely his fault that four innocent teens had been dragged into the mess.

"Matt, I know this is going to sound strange but you have to believe me," Alex said, picking his words carefully. "I work for MI6…and I don't mean just now. I mean this is what I do."

"I know," was the unexpected reply.

"What?"

"I was listening," Matt said.

Alex waited for the larger teen to elaborate but he didn't. "I still have no idea what you're talking about," Alex prompted.

"On the plane, Danny asked if you'd been hurt doing this before and you said you'd been shot." Matt felt eyes that had seen too much burn holes in him. At first he was afraid that Alex would throw a hissy fit or hurt him, but that wasn't the case. It was just like Alex to do what you least expected.

The teen spy sighed. "I'm sorry."

Matt didn't ask why, instead he asked the one thing that had been plaguing his mind since the flight. "Why were you shot?"

"When you double cross a world wide criminal organization they don't tend to say thank you and leave it at that," Alex took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. I should have done this myself, I should never have got any of you involved."

Matt said nothing. He'd grown up with parents who couldn't care less, two older brothers who had made the wrong choices and friends who were probably a bad influence but even he wasn't in this much shit. How the hell would you get yourself messed up with a criminal organization anyway?

"I know I have to tell the others but I can't bring myself to do it. I don't know how," Alex continued. He knew he had to talk to Cal and Jared was the only one fully in the dark. Jared would be interesting, he was hard to read and even Alex didn't know how he would react.

The two teens stood in silence for a moment before Alex finally spoke. "A tip for sneaking out; between 3am and 4am is the best time. It's when people are pretty much dead to the world. So I suggest you go back to your room and try not to wake Jared and Danny. We'll have a proper search with everyone tomorrow night, ok?" Matt just nodded.

Both teens went back to their rooms, though neither slept. Matt couldn't care less, he had six periods the next day that would leave him just as rested as a full nights sleep.

_

* * *

_

Just a day later the five teens were standing in the same spot that Matt and Alex had been the night before. Each of them were dressed in black with their gadgets hidden somewhere on their body. Alex had the gun and even though it was something that was partially new to him it felt like something he'd had all his life.

Alex sat back and listened as the other four teens decided what they were going to do and only added crucial points when he needed to (Cal had been right when he had said that he needed to know how to deal with the situation). Eventually they set off, staying together and moving slowly. Alex pointed out the Scorpia mark but otherwise it seemed as though nothing had changed, until they got to the music centre. The lights were on and so, very cautiously, they moved forward. They kept close to the drama department knowing that if they moved any closer they would be out in the open. Suddenly a voice broke the silence.

"Put your hands in the air."

No one had expected that. The voice was familiar and for Alex so was the sound of the gun.

"Funny, isn't it? This whole time you thought you were in control, the one calling the shots. I know your secrets, Alex Rider, do you wanna know mine?"

* * *

**Author's Note**

Hey, I'm so sorry about the huge delay but I've been smothered by homework, the musical, exams and the joys of writers block. Also I'm sorry that I kind of mucked up how the others found out about Alex and left you with a cliffhanger. Anyways, hope this chapter was alright and if you want me to add anything or have a suggestion just say.

Important! First person (not from NZ) to tell me what JAFA means gets a wish!

(1) This is NCEA and what a joy it is. 'E' is excellence, 'M' is merit, 'A' is achieved and 'NA' is not achieved. Internals are exams during the year and assessed by your teachers while externals are your exams at the end of the year and assessed by people who aren't your teachers. Hope this is helpful.

A huge thanks and sorry for all those who reviewed (and another sorry for those who have no idea what I'm talking about because they can't remember what they wrote and now have to decipher my reply). **Revasser****,** **George Bailey** (you read my mind, lol),**talking-and-walking-thesaurous**, **Tobi X**, **fang321**, **Saynt Jimmy** (don't worry about it), **Meia-Noite****, ****babu'sbff**, **Mad Mogg** (really? That's cool), **snowember** (no Cal's just really good at cards, Alex was cheating), **Jusmine** (eventually), **Formerly Melodious**(!!), **Althia9** (is this too late or am I still going to die? And yes, it's about 4km one way and 40km the other, can you guess way I swam across?), **liz22463** (Sorry), **Kitty** (yeah we call it that too), **idreamoffantasy**, **cricketchick1990** (I only just did my defensive driving course, stupidest thing ever. It's not gonna stop us country folk from speeding around town and stuff, it's their own fault for having crap public transport, lol), **rmiller92** (soon, very soon!), **BrazilianPrincess**, **GreenAwesomeness**, **MissMeliss4251**, **digiMist**, **Katie** (That's so cool, I don't even think my school does exchanges, you gotta work it out yourself), **Gold is power**, **readinglts**, **AD** (Excellent!), **Loz727****, ****incarnationofvictory** (I think Ian taught Alex basic shooting, it says that it's one of his hobbies or something in Stormbreaker. Scorpia taught him to use a gun as well but telling them that wouldn't be the best way for Alex to keep his secret.) **jesusfreak100percent**(thanks for the encouragement!) and **Jake Caldefore**(I replied to your review but I don't know if you got it.) Also a special thanks to **Ichi **who got helped me finish the chapter (Some of your ideas were similar to the parts I had already written and just made them that much better while others gave me ideas and helped me get to where I wanted the story to be, thanks again), and **dappledsunlight **for once again being an awesome beta (no probs about the time I was away anyway and thanks heaps for the tips and grammar help.)

Cya next chapter!

Erin


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Alex Rider series.

**Warnings: **Swearing

* * *

**Soldier On**

**Chapter Seven **

In hindsight it would always be the quietest that was the deadliest. It would always be the last, the only one who didn't know what Alex became when he was 'sick,' who would be the traitor. The truth was it was never a secret. The mission wasn't about the school, or figuring out the secrets of Alex Rider. It was about Jared Turner. It was about how Jared Turner worked for Scorpia. No. It was about how Jared Turner worked for Scorpia and was going to kill Alex Rider.

Alex slowly turned around to find Jared holding a gun to Danny's head, his other hand around the teen's neck. Fear shone through Danny's eyes as he gasped while his frantic hands struggled to pry the strong arm away. It was at that moment that the last pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit together in Alex's mind and he realized just how deep in shit he'd gotten himself; well, actually, who got him into this mess was debatable, but he didn't currently have the time to have an internal dispute with himself. Instead a switch flicked in Alex Rider's mind and suddenly he was back in spy mode.

"They're gonna notice, Jared." Alex said, thinking on his feet. Not to bargain for his own freedom but to swap his own life for the three innocent teens that had simply been dragged into the crossfire of a spy and an assassin… nothing hugely complicated. "When we're not there in the morning, they'll know where to look."

"That's bullshit, Alex, and you know it. They don't give a shit about you, me, any of us. I have to do this," Jared tightened his hold on the frightened teen. The other two were not doing much better; both seemed to be fighting wars within themselves. Matt didn't know whether he should take action or trust Alex and Cal looked as though he was trying to understand the meaning of life.

"Then why work for Scorpia? They're no different."

"You worked with them, why don't you tell me?" All three unarmed teens shot him a questing look, none of which he returned, preferring to look into the eyes of a possible killer than his own friends at the moment. Jared smirked, easily translating Alex's slight body movements.

"They tried to kill me. I wasn't about to say, 'yes sir, can I have another?'"

"And MI6?" Alex didn't know how to answer. Sure MI6 had never directly tried to kill (or even hurt) him but the missions they sent him on were suicide. He couldn't count on two hands the amount of times that stupid organization had let him down. He had to shake himself out of his current thought pattern because at that moment he realized that Blunt had been right from the beginning. It wasn't about him anymore. Who cares about what happens to Alex Rider? He had no family, the boys in front of him did. They had a future. Blunt had sent three innocent boys into a highly dangerous situation to make Alex see that. While he was already lost to the world of spies, missions and assassins, there were so many who weren't. They relied on him to keep it that way.

"I thought so," the taller teen interrupted with a dark tone, the smirk visibly deepening. He gripped Danny tighter and forced the gun closer to his head. The younger boy winced and unsuccessfully tried to get out of the stranglehold. Jared seemed oblivious to the resistance.

"Here come the men in black." Jared smiled at his own stupid joke and then pointed his gun at Alex. "I'm not underestimating you."

There was a bang.

At first there was no pain and then it was like someone had thrust a blunt shovel into his leg. He got about four steps before his leg gave out on him. Next thing he knew the previously mentioned men in black were sticking something into his arm. Then the pain faded, his senses dulled and the last thing he saw was Jared forcing a limp Danny into the arms of another guard before he succumbed to the darkness.

* * *

"Shit…" He moaned, but the stabbing pain prevented him from making any real attempts to get up. Instead he was forced to roll on his side as bile threatened to rise in his throat. Weakly the teen spy admitted to himself that squeezing his eyes shut as hard as he could was not going to stop the hot tears from trailing down his cheeks.

He jumped slightly when he felt a rough hand attempt to soothe him. The hitch in his breathing didn't help his queasy stomach and Alex gagged before he could regain control over his body and force both the nausea and pain into the corners of his mind. There was so much going through his head, his mind on overdrive - 'I'm cold, no I'm not. Yes I am; I'm shivering. Why are bunnies gnawing on my leg…no…wait, no bunnies, a bullet. I was shot…again. Bloody hell, it hurts, bunnies sound so much better. Oh god, the room's spinning, how much blood have I lost? Deep breaths, Alex, deep breaths. Holy Shit, I'm alive…why am I still alive?' This flurry of thoughts meant he failed to notice where he was and who was with him.

"Alex?" A soft voice questioned. He felt the person get up and move so that they were now in front of him.

"I'm fine," Alex croaked out through clenched teeth. He finally opened his eyes and slowly moved himself into a more comfortable sitting position.

"You were shot in the leg!" Danny argued.

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Alex looked at the teen. Danny was angry and in some ways that relieved Alex. It seemed like a somewhat healthy emotion at the time.

It was at that moment that Alex managed to get a good view of his surroundings. Danny was standing in front of him, running a dirty hand through the mess of short, brown hair. His green eyes were shining with a rage that Alex couldn't quite place. He was flanked by Cal and Matt, both supporting questioning glares. The four of them were in a room that could be only described as your clichéd criminal hideout. It's look was minimalist to the extreme - there was no furniture; only concrete walls and floor accompanied by a heavy door. If Alex didn't know better he would have thought they had just been dropped onto a James Bond set.

Alex's leg gave a particularly painful throb and he was forced to bite his lip to stop the moan of pain escaping his mouth. Danny easily spotted the movement and his face softened.

"By the time we woke up someone had already managed to stop the bleeding. Guess they don't want you dead just yet," Danny explained, the others deciding to remain oddly tight lipped.

"Well, isn't that a comforting thought." The teen replied, refusing to look at the wound.

"Are you always like this?" A voice came from the door. "You know humor is a defense mechanism used to stop people from seeing one's true fear and insecurity," Jared crouched down to Alex's level, talking to him as if he were a child, "Are you afraid of us, Alex?"

"Fear is what makes us human, Jared," Alex retorted, "it keeps us on the balls of our feet, helps us survive."

"So, what you're saying is the secret to the success of the great Alex Rider is fear?"

Alex was about to answer with ammo Jared had just given him but a soft, yet determined, voice suddenly piped up out of nowhere.

"Who are you?"

Both Alex and Jared turned to look at the person; who was currently sitting safely behind both Danny and Matt.

"What?" Jared asked. Alex gave an equally confused glance at Cal.

"I used to have a friend. We were caught skipping school one day and our defense was that we were in class but you just can't see ninjas. We lived in a box fort for four days and saw 'How to Train your Dragon' twenty-three times." Danny sighed. "I just can't believe you and he could possibly be the same person."

"I'm a good actor," Jared replied, a silent war waging beneath the perfectly calm exterior.

"No one's that good of an actor," Matt replied and then quickly turned to the smaller teen, easily reading his mind. "He's not Johnny Depp, Cal." Cal closed his mouth.

Jared looked like he wanted to answer but he knew his orders and he knew the price he would have to pay if he disobeyed those orders. It was common knowledge that assassins show no mercy. Jared would be quickly put to death…if he was lucky.

The teen began to walk away.

"Are you afraid, Turner?" Alex teased. The taller teen stopped for a second before turning to Alex.

"I was normal, I had a home, I had family…but MI6 wasn't able to protect them. Next thing I know Scorpia gives me the opportunity to get revenge on the men who killed my family." With every word he spoke Jared moved closer and closer to the group. "And I admit, it felt good. So it is only fair that in return, I help them take down MI6." Jared stopped. At that moment you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. As soon as Alex dared to blink, Jared broke his gaze, moving to the other end of the room and closing the door before anyone had a chance to speak.

Alex turned back to the other teens and smiled, "I have a plan."

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait guys, I really have no excuses (would you take 'suspense building'?). Hopefully the prolonged vacation hasn't deterred anyone. Btw, the chapters are kind of weird because some of the reviews are noted as chapter 7 and some as 6 (I'm guessing from when I deleted the A/N) so if I have repeated a thank you or missed you out, I'm sorry.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, the constant reminders and death threats were what made this chapter possible…eventually.

**Anonymous, It's A Bonsai Tree, ****EriKaBalDeL****, ****LuluRox****, ****32-star****, ****grimmich****, ****VampirePrince4ever****, ****aiimee****, ****TheOneThatIsAddictedToHPfics**(You got it, lol that sounded like it came out of a dictionary)**, ****Akuma-beast-16****, ****AllThatIsGoldDoesNotGlitter**(You were right! It doesn't really explain it in the chapter but it was to try and flush Jared out, the plans not really that smart and I haven't really looked into the details so it's honestly pretty lame but at least the chapters up! P.S. The bunny rox)**, ****agentcherub****, ****Ebbagull**(I hope your head hasn't exploded! That would be rather messy…Anyway, I'm glad you like Danny, originally he wasn't supposed to make it into the final five but he was upgraded by popular demand. Also I rather liked your rant about the other teammates. I feel bad because it's more thought than I ever really put into them. Thanks for the awesome review!)**, PENAME: alvineju of baron, ****jesusfreak100percent****, ****Revasser****, Ichi **(Thanks for all the help, I sort of used some of the ideas and I found the constructive feedback really helpful, hopefully this chapter has worked out a little better and developed a bit further. Thanks again.)**, ****Blown**(sorry)**, ****Mainn****, ****xxchibinessxx****, AD, ****Orabit's Madness**(lol I shall never look at the NZ grading system the same ever again), **randomness, ****Jake Caldefore** (haha, it's all good, I know the feeling; exhibit A being this chapter. The term is right unfortunately I am not as computer savvy as I appear, nor do I own a wand of any sort so I'm unsure about wishes.)**Pallas Athen**(Yes, but mine came first! Muwahahaha! That was a bit over the top, sorry, I'm getting into the Halloween spirit.) **Stone Of Blood****, Wolfmonster, ****SweetlyDesolated**(I remember Blunt saying 'rifle shooting' in the movie, and being adamant that Ian had taught him when I wrote it, but haven't read the book in AGES so I'm going to judge it as an educated guess), **The Feral Candy Cane, Jusmine **(Thanks, can't believe I missed those.), **Alviniju** (It's fine. How old would you be in grade 8? Sorry, foreigner. Unfortunately where I come from most of our assessments were done in our own time, like projects, and often homework was the school work we didn't have time to finish in class. Also everyone is different and they learn in different ways. My sister has dyslexia so while she's intelligent she needs to work harder to get to the same place as others when it comes to reading, hence more homework for her.), **Weytdyewf **(not quite lol), **Shadowhunter4life****, ****talking-and-walking-thesaurous****,** And finally Taylor for being my beta!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own the Alex Rider series.

Warnings: Swearing and lack of proofreading

Soldier On

Chapter Eight

"This plan is ridiculous," Matt exclaimed, running a hand through his damp, black hair.

"All my plans are ridiculous. That's what makes them my plans," Alex replied calmly. "I once snowboarded down a mountain on an ironing board while being chased by men riding snowmobiles and wielding guns. Then I jumped onto a moving train." Alex paused for a moment, "Although that was more like a series of spontaneous decisions, than a plan."

"Do I want to know how you survived this long?" Cal asked, staring incredulously at the teen spy.

"I've been told I have the luck of the devil. Apparently it runs in the family," Alex shrugged, "which is concerning considering the fact that I don't have any family left."

"Thanks, that made me feel so much better," Matt answered through his best sarcastic smile.

"Hey, it was this or we Shawshanked it out of here." Matt's reply came in the form of an inaudible grumble.

The building was mostly solid concrete but there was a small opening covered by only a thin metal grate. Small enough to fit four, still growing, teenagers. Sure, it was a somewhat unforgivable flaw in the prison design but it was the best way to keep the air flow; dead prisoners meant that torturers were no longer able to get torturous jobs and feed their tortourer families. Plus climbing through air ducts never gets old. No matter how often you see it on television.

The hardest part was getting Alex up into the small space. Matt pulled himself up into the vent easily enough but the bullet in the teen spy's leg stopped him from doing any of his normal acrobatic stunts. Alex instead stood on Danny shoulders while Matt pulled him up.

"This looks so much easier on television," Matt complained.

No less than ten exhausting minutes later the four boys were doing their best to quietly crawl through the air vents.

"Woah, what is that?" Danny whispered.

"Sorry," Cal replied. Alex frowned.

"Keep your gas to yourself, please."

"Please tell me you guys didn't just made a fart joke," Danny said, hanging his head in shame.

"Alex, you have such good manners. I will do my utter best to comply with your request," Cal smiled.

"Shut up and crawl," Matt commanded

Cal gave the boy a look; a giant, blue-eyed, puppy dog look, refusing to move an inch.

"Please!" Matt hissed.

"No wait." Alex stopped and looked through the grate below him, a terrifying mischievous grin spreading across his face, "Weapons."

* * *

The three uninjured had boys jumped into the room below and were now rifling through the storage room.

"There's nothing usable here, it's all crap," Matt complained, tossing something back into the container he found it in.

"Scorpia just doesn't have the supplies it used to. My fault I guess," Alex's said, scanning the room underneath him.

"You know, your cockiness has gone from a modest three to pushing ten since we entered this building," Danny commented. Alex gave the teen a wry smile.

The three teens continued to scavenge unsuccessfully.

"Is it just me or is it too quiet," Alex mussed, breaking the awkward silence.

"We're trying to be quiet because being loud would alert the mass murderers of our escape," Danny explained.

"No, I mean, I haven't seen anyone. No guards or any other sign of life."

"Could they be on lunch break?" Cal asked.

"We need to forget sneaking around in vents and get out of here. Now." The tone in Alex's voice was deadly serious. Deadly.

"What?" Danny asked.

"Go!" Alex ordered. Slightly shaken, but functioning enough to react, the four boys helped the teen spy out of the vent. He gasped in pain when he was forced to put weight on the injured limb, only just managing to stop his slight stumble from turning into a face plant by leaning heavily into the wall. Swallowing heavily Alex and the other boys navigated their way to a fire escape.

They were almost safely to the ground when a shockwave sent them sprawling on to the concrete. Panic and confusion filled the air. Alex's was the first head to whip around and take in the scene; adrenaline momentarily numbing the pain in his leg. Another shockwave took over and Danny found himself covering his ears in a pathetic attempt to block out the booming noise. He knew exactly what had happened when he felt immense heat on his back.

"They... blew up the... building?!" the dark haired boy exclaimed between gasps of air, "Why'd they... blow up the building?"

"Yeah, they had us. Why not just shoot us?" Cal asked, shakily getting up and brushing debris off his jeans. The teen's heart was racing and he found that his legs had turned to jelly.

"I don't know. Explosions are more fun to watch?" Matt guessed, also getting to his feet and pulling Alex up with him. Alex leaned heavily on the older boy, his leg feeling less like a leg and more like a ball of throbbing hurt attached to his hip.

"No, it was because Jared couldn't shoot us. It was too personal. This way he could be as far away as he wanted," Alex answered tiredly.

"So what do we do now?" Cal asked.

"I don't know. Usually I'd be passed out by now and someone would come and get me."

"That's zero of two," Matt sighed.

"Actually…" Alex trailed off. Matt was able to catch the injured teen before he hit the ground. The two ended up back on the concrete, Alex's head leaning on the older boy's lap.

"Alex?" Danny asked.

"He passed out," Matt said.

"One of two," Cal uncertainly presented.

"Anyone need a ride?" a familiar voice behind the group asked. If Alex was anything he was most certainly consistent.

* * *

As it turned out the man who had offered them a ride was no other than Ben Daniels aka Fox. He flashed them his credentials and helped them get the unconscious boy into the back seat of the vehicle.

They were now driving exactly 103km/hr towards Hamilton on the Southern motorway. "We'll get you boys to safe house, you can sleep, shower and eat once we arrive. After that we can debrief you and go from there," Ben explained.

The boys nodded silently.

"Honey, 'm home." Alex' speech was slurred and he didn't move from his slumped position again the door.

Ben let out a smile that didn't quite erase the worry from his eyes, "it's good to see you too, kid."

"How'd you know where to fin' us?" He asked, peering at the soldier through heavy lidded eyes.

"I was keeping track of you but for some ridiculous reason none of you thought it would be a good idea to take your cellphones on your little escapade, so I was a little delayed," Ben answered.

"You were tracking my phone? Creepy stalker."

"Obviously I wasn't a good enough stalker," the ex-SAS apologized.

"I's all good, I'm going to go back to sleep now. You're being too sappy." Alex poked out his tongue and then chocolate eyes fluttered closed again.

* * *

Danny stared at himself in the mirror. On the surface he was a mess. He was covered head to toe in dirt; which made his hair about three shades darker and his normally pale skin had almost completely disappeared under the grime. There was a blossom of colour down the side of his face from when he'd been hit by a bit of rubble. At least that's what he presumed had happened. Three hours ago it'd felt like everything was running in slow motion, now it all just seemed like a bright orange blur and he couldn't distinguish between what was real and what had simply been part of the twisted nightmare. He turned on the shower and tried to wash as much of the reminder away as he could.

Cal had become oddly quiet once they arrived at the safe house. Now that he wasn't running for his life he had time to think. The blonde teen chewed slowly on a piece of cheese pizza, staring off into space as he was so often caught doing. Despite what other people seemed to believe, Cal was a great thinker. He could entertain himself for hours just thinking out adventures and could spend just as long dwelling on the past and sorting them into compartments in his brain. Danny had once told him that it was called compartmentalizing or something. He supposed it was what made him such a laid back person; calm in tough situations and able to respond quicker than most, but at the moment his mind was too cluttered. Too full of things that weren't ready to be pushed into storage.

Matt puffed his chest out in order to compensate for the complete unsteadiness he was feeling right now. Apart from a minor sprained wrist and a few bruises and grazes he was physically fine, which is why he was having trouble understanding. He always thought that if it wasn't life threatening then it didn't matter; and yet he felt his hands shaking, his breath was heaving and there were hot tears threatening to spill down his face. Before he would have told anyone who had been through his own experiences (and reacted the way he was now) to harden up. He would say that spending just over a day in a locked room really wasn't that bad. But somehow it was bad and it really hurt.

And Alex? Alex slept through the whole thing.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight in my head."

Debrief began when Mrs. Jones appeared on the widescreen television in the conference room of the safe house. But she wasn't talking right now. Right now Alex was ranting; currently enforcing his own coping mechanisms.

"You orchestrated this whole thing; picked kids from my school and sent us to the middle of fucking no where, all so you could draw out some psycho who thought he could take down MI6. Thats... that's just fucking unintelligent." There was a moment of silence, "And you know what? A heads up would have been nice too."

The teen spy looked utterly frustrated at the woman, predominantly because he was currently confined to one of the plain chairs in the conference room, his gauze-covered leg propped up on and cushioned on one of the other chairs.

"Alex, we believe that Jared posts a real threat to MI6, especially with Scorpia backing him. However the idea was not to draw him out. It was to simply get him as far away as we could but still keep him under watch. I admit that the mission was not properly evaluated and as a result you and your teammates were put in danger. We do...apologize for this and can assure your safety here until we apprehend the boy."

"No, he got one up on me," Alex announced, with murder in his eyes, "I'm getting even."

Mrs. Jones looked at the boy in astonishment and there was silence in the room.

"Count me in," Danny said. He couldn't be quiet, book smart Danny anymore. He was tear our your heart with his bare hands Danny now. Alex looked up at his teammate but didn't stop him.

"Me too," Cal stood up.

Matt remained staring at the discrepancies in the large wooden table below his palms. He released a long sigh and shook his head. "I'm sorry guys, I just... I can't. I'm sorry."

"It's ok," Alex said, "we need someone to stay here and co-ordinate."

And that was all Matt needed to hear. He raised his head and smiled a thank you and the fair haired teen. "I think I can do that," he replied.

Alex turned to his now official team members.

"Allons-y!"

* * *

Hey guys, all I can say is sorry and I hope that there still people out there who are wanting to know what happens.

Till next time!


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